Batman vs. Superman: Biggest potential issue

Superman's biggest enemy yet.... isn't Batman? Be forewarned: This is going to be a short editorial/glorified comment.

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By Nick Salinski - 5/15/2014

Batman vs. Superman is one of the most anticipated films in history and is going to have Avengers like opening numbers no doubt. People are excited, people are skeptical and ultimately there are reasons to worry. Possibly being over crowded, Justice League Origins? Well, I'm here to tell you that those shouldn't be what you need to worry about. What you need to worry about is if Batman vs. Superman will be Warner Bros. "Iron Man 2" and "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" yes, I really enjoyed both of those movies but they share a common problem as well as Spidey 2 sharing the same issue as Spidey 3 as well. I'm sure you see where I am getting at but let me explain.

Batman vs. Superman has a big issue and that is too many things happening at the same time, it's got too many hands in the pot. For all we know, this could end up being an excellent film but I have my reasons to be optimistic to begin with. Batman vs. Superman is going to have to do the following: To be a Superman story, introduce Batman, introduce Wonder Woman, introduce Vic Stone, introduce Lex Luthor, spend time with Man of Steel's supporting cast, spend time with Batman's supporting cast, set the stage for the rest of the cinematic universe and set up for Justice League. That's a lot of things to do. Iron Man 2 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 had similiar issues. They had to: Continue the story of their main hero, spend time with their supporting cast, introduce the villain, set the stage for the cinematic universe and set up for their big event movie. It didn't work for Iron Man 2 because it wasn't what Faverau had wanted, didn't work for Spider-Man because (as we believe) the studio controlled Marc Webb as to what to do, keep and trash, etc which is easy for them to do because it was Webb's third film (which certain things, the climax of the final battle, were still highly effective and an highlight). While we all know Snyder works best with ensemble's (as long as he's given a good script as with Dawn of the Dead and Watchmen) but, he's got a lot to focus on and it's been proven with experienced and inexerperienced directors that this isn't an easy task.

We think that Ben Affleck isn't going to make a mistake again due to his films from a decade ago, just think, Robert Downey Jr had a career comeback and still came out with, Due Date. Keep in mind, this article isn't to discourage anyone. It's to focus on the main possible problem with the film. Which is why I think us, the comic book/comic book movie community need to be more optimistic and cautious with this film than we actually are. Without a doubt, excitment is understandable because the latest pic from Zack Snyder showcasing Batman from the film who, Ben Affleck by the way, looks absolutely fantastic as. My favorite part is the short ears. Love it. Any who, this second movie/universe building movie trend is going to either need to be adjusted or be completely done with and be handled in a different manner. For me, I would go about it in a completely different way. Do a couple scenes that are relevent to the story and to building the cinematic universe but, that's it. The story needs to be centric to the current situation which in this case, is Superman's story and growing as a superhero, his conflicts with Luthor and Batman, morales, etc.

Also, don't need to have so many god damn characters in the film. Especially when you take in account the possibility of, The Joker, featuring in this film as well. Superman's supporting cast should be: Lois, Perry, Jimmy (or Jenny in this case) and Ma Kent. Batman's should be: Alfred. That's it! The rest are the villain(s), government characters, etc. As I said, this movie could be completely epic and excellent as I don't know what the film's story is or anything. But really, that's all I have to say on this subject.

What are your guys' thoughts on this matter, the film in general, etc. Comment below and as always, be respectful.

After The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the too many characters issues does now carry some weight. And yes, this is a valid concern: will Superman/Batman end up being a shitty advertisement for JL like IM2 was for Avengers and TASM2 was for Sinister Six and then, in the process, become a terrible film itself?

Every movie has like, 50 characters.They've said WW isn't going to play a big role, equate her to just another female love interest to start with or an IM2 situation with ScarJo.

Aside from that we know Lex is going to play the big villain, Batman doesn't need any origin story here neither does Superman. That leaves so much room for development and story. I really doubt the Joker will appear, no I strongly disagree he will.

Cyborg will have a cameo as Victor, that's not a problem and of course Superman's supporting cast will be there as always, it seems fine by me.

It actually DID work for Iron Man 2, since Black Widow has appeared in every Marvel movie and has become the huge fan favorite with men and women.

TASM2, had the script-writers for Transformers, they also worked on Transformers 2 and Into Darkness with a producer who decided to challenge Marvel Studios with the obvious cinematic universe.

Batman vs. Superman on the other hand, has the writer for Argo, a well written script if you read it for a somewhat boring premise, it has an academy award winning writer & director meaning his acting ability and dialogue for the movie will be 10x better then any Marvel film to date. The overstuff of characters doesn't mean anything usually since comic books at times not all the time though do have the random cameos at times.

We honestly don't know anything. You act we had a poster of the Justice League as our first poster in this case, we didn't.

Terrio writing it doesn't magically mean it will be a masterpiece no matter what and you are a heretical bastard to suggest otherwise. The concerns over the casting/writing/characters will be here until the trailers/film is released and people have a right to have these concerns and their reasoning is logical.

It clearly depends on the screen writers and if there actually invested in the source material. I don't want a rushed DC cinematic universe, i'd rather have the universe planned. I am looking forward to Batman vs Superman but i'm hoping that for the majority of the film it will be Superman working with Batman against a threat rather than having two super heroes fighting against each other.

This film is a disaster in the making. I made the prediction that Amazing Spider man 2 would not make much more than the first film and thus far it appears as though that prediction will likely come true. I also predict that Man of Steel 2 will not do much better than Man Of Steel. If it opens against Captain America 3 then I guarantee it won't. No one has seemed to learn from Batman and Robin, League of Extraordinary Gentleman, Spider-man 3 and now The Amazing Spider-man 2 that you just can't cram characters into a movie and make work. People are not even that invested in Superman yet and this is his second film.

That's 13 characters who not only have speaking roles, but are crucial to the storyline. As in, if you remove any one of them, then you would have to replace them with someone else.

No one was slighted.

TASM2, on the other hand, didn't know what to do with their characters. Electro is barely in it, and he's the international title "Rise of Electro". Character motivations are horrendous, and I mean HORRENDOUS. Electro just feels betrayed, and Harry realizes he's going to die.... in 40 years! Harry literally goes shopping with a taser for someone to help him break into OSCORP, out of desperation. He doesn't have all the facts, and it all backfires on him. The worst part about it is, Electro is made into a side-story in his own movie, while Harry pretty much is given everything that Raimi did in his trilogy - but in ONE movie, making it pretty stale and shoved down your throat.

Gwen Stacy had nowhere to go in the story, so they decided to kill her off. Being Gwen Stacy, that's kind of a given, however, this was a strong character from the first movie. Her death is emotional, yes, but still downplayed. Spider-man and the Green Goblin have their first and only fight, and Harry just gets knocked out and we see nothing going on between them again. What does Peter think about his friend killing his girlfriend? He just stops being Spider-man altogether for a few months, which we see in a timeskip. There's no confrontation again between Harry and Peter, nothing. He doesn't even blame himself for it, he just shuts down.

So the trouble with "too many characters" is that the writers don't know how to manage them. With DC, they've proven the ability to stuff their movies full of characters without slighting them, and I have confidence (not a LOT, but enough) that they can do it again without detracting from the flow and momentum of the story.

Don't get it twisted, Superman and Batman together for the first time on the big screen will make history, there's not doubt about it. And I don't think there are too many characters in the movie, i'm just saying that the movie is going to be good if WW and Cyborg are handled carefully.

@tainted87 I know I am biased towards Marvel, but this isn't me just being DC hater. TWS did have a lot of characters, but Marvel has shown that they know how to handle multiple characters, and introduce them gradually over the course of a few films. Sure they have had some problems (ie. IM2), but for the most part they are getting better at it and they have obviously been successful.

Watchmen was handled well by Snyder, but the movie was pretty much a carbon copy of the successful graphic novel. It is much harder to balance a bunch of new characters from a new script and and a fresh story. This is where people have their concerns for Batman vs. Superman. It is starting to feel packed with important characters who all need explaination, however DC doesn't have the luxury (however, by their own choice) to stretch these stories out over a few movies. This is how this could be rushed and lead to the next Spiderman 3. Not saying it is going to happen, and I sure as hell hope it doesn't. I would love an amazing Batman vs. Superman movie, but I am cautiously optimistic.

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